I agree with you. This is why I've been upset and complained about how Higley has portrayed Marlena since May or June of this year.

John isn't John because Stefano changed him, so I could buy the John stuff. If they had made John a total BA villain and made me hate him so much that I wanted Marlena to divorce him, I could've bought that because I'd see John as Stefano's victim, and I'd be rooting for Marlena and his 'FRIENDS' to rescue him, and I'd know in the end, real John would feel terribly for what he'd done, there would be resolution, payoff. A good time had by all.

But instead, Higley took Marlena, a character I've loved much of my life, a character who embodied love and understanding, warmth understanding, selflessness and intelligence, and turned her into a woman who couldn't give John a chance. Instead of me feeling like John was the villain, I started feeling like Marlena was. Sure John wasn't himself, but Higley had everyone turning against him for very little reason. Who wouldn't be defensive in his situation? I actually liked new John and felt bad for him (though I've always rooted for old John's heart to come back).

I wrote a long post on this awhile back, and don't have the energy now, but I wish you would know the real Marlena from the 70s, 80s, 90s, early 2000s who was the truest of friends and who was a wonderful psychiatrist who looked for and brought out the best in others. She and John were amazing in their selflessness and devotion to each other and their friends.

I have no trouble with Marlena being human. I LIKE her being human. And I can see this situation testing her to her fullest. I wanted it to! But they did NOT write Marlena like Marlena to me since May.

I think that is what kills me most about this story. It should have been great. There were a lot of good ways to go with this story. Instead it was like Higley launched a full attack on Marlena and destroyed her, and now a couple that symbolized true love is leaving after a very unrepresentative storyline that had no understanding of the core of J&M.

What can I say. Awesome post. You speak for me here. It's such a shame. It's truly sad.